Reolysin fares well in early carcinoma trial

US biotechnology firm Oncolytics Biotech has reported positive interim results from a UK carcinoma trial assessing carboplatin and paclitaxel in combination with Reolysin, its proprietary formulation of the human reovirus.

According to data presented at the 5th Annual Conference of the British Society for Gene Therapy, in Edinburgh, Scotland, four of the first eight patients treated in the study to date have a diagnosis of carcinoma of the head and neck. All three head and neck patients evaluated to date have had excellent clinical and radiological responses without appreciable toxicity, the firm noted. Preliminary assessment after recruitment of the first two cohorts has suggested that patients with head and neck carcinomas may represent a group of people in whom the combination of carboplatin/paclitaxel and Reolysin is effective.

"These early results in head and neck patients are remarkable, considering the prognosis for refractory patients is generally poor," said Karl Mettinger, the firm's chief medical officer. In the first cohort, the patient with head and neck cancer received eight cycles of treatment and achieved a clinical complete response. In the second, two patients with widespread disseminated disease each had six cycles of treatment to date and saw significant partial responses.